As Sexy as Gas Pains
by Raven1058
Summary: Missing Klaine scenes starting after Prom Queen with the story continuing into the summer as they explore their relationship and deal with Blaine's family issues.  Canon to the end of Season 2.
1. Prom

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee

They headed out to Blaine's car shortly after "Dancing Queen" ended. Things had turned out okay in the end, but they had no interest in staying any longer now that the dance was over. No one gave them any trouble as they left, even without Karofsky there to play bodyguard for Kurt.

They spend the short drive back to Kurt's in silence, both absorbed in their own thoughts. "Come in for a bit?" Kurt asked. It was early still, not even 11:00 pm. The house was quiet as they came in, although Kurt had seen the light on in Burt and Carol's room from outside. There was no sign of Finn yet. As they took off their suit jackets and hung them up by the front door Burt came down the stairs.

"Did everything go okay, Kurt," he asked?

"Yes, everything turned out okay. I'll give you all the details tomorrow."

"Are you sure," asked Burt, sensing that there was more that his son wasn't telling him.

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Alright, we'll talk about it tomorrow then. Don't stay up too late," he said, giving Blaine a firm look. "Goodnight." Burt headed back upstairs.

Blaine and Kurt headed downstairs to the den and sank down on the couch. "You were amazing tonight," Blaine said. I can't believe how brave you were. I couldn't even get up the nerve to ask you to slow dance, and you stood up to the whole school and got coronated queen."

"You make be brave. I don't think I could have done it if you hadn't been with me. And the way you asked me to dance in front of everyone was incredible." Knowing that Blaine still wasn't very comfortable displaying affection in public, unless it was in the form of a song, and especially knowing how nervous he had been just going to a dance, Kurt had been very impressed by that move.

"I guess you make me brave, too. I do still wish we could have had a slow dance, though."

"So why don't we?" asked Kurt, jumping up off the couch to put on some music. It takes him a few minutes to find what he's looking for, then as the first notes of "Stand by Me" start playing, he reaches for Blaine's hands and pulls him off the couch.

"I love this song," Blaine says.

"Well, it is a timeless classic." Blaine's arms slide around Kurt's waist, pulling him close. Kurt's arms reach up around Blaine's shoulders and they move slowly to the music. When the song gets to

"_No I won't be afraid, no I won't be afraid_

_Just as long as you stand, stand by me,"_

Kurt sings the words softly against Blaine's ear. He stops singing to enjoy the comfort of Blaine's arms around him, the heat he can feel from Blaine's body, and the delectable smell of Blaine's cologne mixed with a touch of sweat.

They kiss gently until the song ends and Blaine pulls away. "I'm so lucky to have you, Kurt." They hold each other tightly for a few seconds, then Blaine, thinking of Burt's look, says "I should probably get going."

Reluctantly, Kurt follows him back upstairs. Blaine kisses him softly and leaves, promising to call him tomorrow. Kurt gathers up the stupid crown he's left at the front door and slowly heads upstairs. The sight of it bring back all the hurt from that night and once more, tears start to slide silently down his cheeks. As he gets into bed a few minutes later, his thoughts are of Blaine, wishing Blaine was there, wishing Blaine could hold him all night.

The next morning, Kurt was leaning back against his pillows, listening to "Stand by Me" on his ipod and thinking about that slow dance with Blaine. In the daylight it was much easier to think about all the wonderful things that had happened the night before instead of that terrible moment when his name was announced. The crown was hidden under his bed where he wouldn't have to see it.

"Kurt?" Burt calls, knocking on the door.

"Come in, Dad."

Burt enters, obviously glancing around the room to make sure Blaine isn't there. Satisfied, he says "So do you want to tell me about the prom? There was obviously something you weren't telling me last night. Kurt hesitates, not sure how to begin. "Did that Karofsky kid threaten you again?"

"No, no one threatened me." He pauses. "It was the prom king and queen election. They elected me prom queen."

"How the hell did that happen?" Burt explodes.

"Apparently I got a lot of write-in votes."

"No, I mean who was in charge? How could they let this happen?"

"Principal Figgins, I guess, he's the one who made the announcement."

"First thing Monday morning, I'm going down there to give him a piece of my mind. What the hell kind of school is he running where they let something like that happen?"

"Wait Dad, everything ended-up turning out okay."

Downstairs, Finn is eating breakfast when he hears a soft knock on the door and sees Blaine standing outside. He gets up to let him in.

"Morning Finn. Sorry, I know it's early. Is Kurt up yet?"

"I haven't seen him yet, but I heard his music playing awhile ago. He's probably just upstairs still."

"Right," says Blaine, turning to head upstairs. He's carefully avoiding mentioning anything about last night, knowing that Finn got kicked-out, and imagining that things probably hadn't gone well with Quinn afterwards. He's also not sure if Finn knows what happened to Kurt and doesn't want to be the one to tell him. As Blaine reaches the top of the stairs, he can hear Burt and Kurt's voices through Kurt's partly open door.

"How could things end up okay?" asked Burt.

"Well, when I got coronated, I stood up in front of them all, flashed them my gorgeous smile and said "Eat your heart out, Kate Middleton." Everyone laughed and started clapping."

"Only you could pull off something like that, Kurt," Burt says, shaking his head in amazement.

Kurt smiles and continues. "Then they announced the dance between the king and queen, and the guy they elected king obviously didn't want to dance with me and walked out. And Blaine was incredible, and came to my rescue, and asked me to dance in front of everyone. Blaine's amazing, Dad. I never thought I would find someone like him. He makes me happier than I've ever been in my life."

At this point, Blaine, now blushing furiously, decides that standing frozen at the top of the stairs is probably not the smartest thing to do, and turns and heads back downstairs silently.

"He's talking to his Dad," explains Blaine to Finn. "I'll wait until they're done."

"You want some breakfast?"

"No, I'm okay, thanks."

Kurt walks in with Burt right behind him, and happily exclaims "Blaine!" when he sees him, going over and giving him a hug.

"I couldn't wait to see you," Blaine says quietly so only Kurt can hear him. _And make sure you were really okay_, he adds silently.

They pull apart and Blaine asks "Do you want to go get some coffee?"

"You know me too well. I'm always up for coffee." Kurt grabs his jacket and they head outside, Blaine heading towards his car.

"Why don't we walk instead?" asks Kurt. "There's a little place nearby that's pretty good, although it's no Lima Bean."

"Sure," answers Blaine, surprising Kurt by taking his hand as they start walking. "How are you feeling this morning?" he asks cautiously.

"Good, actually," he says, flashing a bright smile. I think I've put the worst parts of last night behind me, and I'm only thinking about the good parts, which are pretty much the ones involving you."

They get to the coffee shop, get their coffees and sit down outside, joking about some of the outfits people had worn last night, and speculating on what might have happened to poor Finn when Quinn got a hold of him afterwards.

When they get back to Kurt's place, they find an empty house. They head up to Kurt's room. Kurt closes the door and turns back to find Blaine standing very close. They start kissing and after a few minutes, Blaine gently leads Kurt to the bed, lies down next to him, and reaches over to kiss him very softly. Despite the gentleness, when they pull back, they're both breathless. Blaine pauses to catch his breath for a second before leaning in again. But before he can continue kissing Kurt, Kurt moves away.

Blaine is somewhat surprised. He knew Kurt wanted to take things slowly, and the only other time Blaine had tried to get him horizontal, Kurt had put a stop to it right away. That was a few weeks ago, though, and after everything they'd been through the night before, Blaine thought Kurt might be ready for a little more intimacy.

"Is everything alright, Kurt? If you're not ready for this, that's totally okay and I will completely understand, but if there's something else, you can tell me."

Kurt seems on the point of saying something, but hesitates.

"I mean it, you can tell me anything and I won't get upset."

"Or laugh at me?" asks Kurt.

"I would never laugh if something's bothering you."

Kurt takes a deep breath, looks Blaine in the eye and blurts out "I'm uncomfortable because you get me so turned on by just kissing me," Blaine gasps, surprised to hear those words come out of Kurt's mouth. "But you think I'm about as sexy as gas pains," Kurt finishes.

"I was such an idiot to have said that, Kurt. I didn't realize it then, but when you're not trying so hard, you're the sexiest guy I've ever laid eyes on. Asking you to do all those different looks was stupid. It would have made anyone uncomfortable. I think your sexiest face ever was that adorable shocked look you had the first time we kissed. And you know what?" Blaine's voice drops to a whisper. "Someday, when we're both ready, I would give anything to make love to you."

This time it's Kurt whose breath catches at Blaine's words.

"That's the look I'm talking about. Now you're just trying to drive me crazy on purpose," Blaine says jokingly.

Kurt laughs, finally, and Blaine pulls him against his chest. "So, are we okay?" he asks tenderly.

"No," answers Kurt, "we're way better than okay." He crawls on top of Blaine to give him a shy kiss, then snuggles down against Blaine's chest, where he stays until they hear Burt's voice downstairs a little while later.


	2. Before New York

The three weeks between the prom and nationals were busy for both of them. Kurt had extra glee club practices and they both had a lot of schoolwork with end of year exams and assignments, plus Kurt had spent the whole last week planning a funeral for Coach Sylvester's sister. They didn't get to see each other as often as they would have liked to, but they always talked on the phone for at least a few minutes every night.

"Are you busy tomorrow night?" Blaine asked. "After tomorrow's chemistry exam, I finally have two days with no exams and no assignments due."

"Mr. Shue scheduled another song writing session until nine o'clock. He seems a bit panicked that we still haven't come up with anything decent. Then I'll probably be up late studying for my History exam. I'm sorry, I wish I was free."

"That's okay, we'll see each other on the weekend like we planned. I miss you."

"I miss you too. Goodnight, Blaine."

"Goodnight."

The next night, Kurt walked out of the school just after 9:00. Song writing had not gone well. Santana's tribute to Karofsky's abs had been truly disgusting – and that was still the best they had. Quinn had started singing a venom-filled song, obviously directed at Finn, but had ended-up screaming and storming out. And no one seemed to have any better ideas. He was frustrated that he'd just wasted three hours, and was dreading the number of hours of studying he still had left.

The New Directions members went their separate ways as they reached the parking lot. As Kurt reached his car, he was surprised to see a familiar silver car parked next to his own. And there was Blaine, looking his usual dreamy self, leaning against the door.

"I know you're busy tonight, but I thought you could use some coffee for your late night studying," Blaine says, handing him a cup of coffee.

Kurt takes it and sets it on the roof of his car. "Thank you," he says, slipping his arms around Blaine. "Did you really drive all this way jus t to bring me coffee?"

"No, I just needed to see you, even if it was only for a few minutes," he says, pulling Kurt even closer to him.

The parking lot empties as all the other New Directions members leave and there's no one else around.

"How did the song writing go?"

"Awful, we've still got nothing."

"Well, you've still got some time before you leave. I'm sure you guys will come up with something great."

"I hope so, since we don't really have a back-up plan if we don't," said Kurt, leaning in close to Blaine.

They stood there with their arms around each other. Kurt wasn't sure how much time had passed, but things like studying never seemed as important when he was with Blaine. He was in no hurry to get home.

It was 9:45 when he finally got in his car. He could still feel Blaine's long, lingering goodnight kiss on his lips. His father wouldn't be impressed with his late arrival, but he didn't care. The frustration he'd been feeling earlier had been replaced by the giddy feeling he always got when he was close to Blaine. It would probably be easier to study now anyway, he reassured himself.

Things continued to be busy right up until Kurt's departure for New York. Mr. Shue kept adding extra practices. Blaine was feeling overwhelmed with the number of assignments he had due in the next week. They managed a quick coffee date on Saturday, but it didn't seem long enough to either one of them.

The night before Kurt left, Blaine was on his way to Kurt's house, trying to ignore the guilty feeling he was having for not spending more time studying for the math test he had tomorrow. He wasn't looking forward to having Kurt gone. Sure, they'd gone four days without seeing each other before, but he'd always known that Kurt was close enough that he could see him if he wanted to. He didn't like the idea of him being so far away.

The sight of Kurt's room was a bit shocking to Blaine, even though he'd expected Kurt to be packing. There were clothes everywhere. How could Kurt even manage to fit all of this stuff in his closet, he wondered?

"Oh, good," said Kurt when he saw Blaine. "You can help me pack. I can't decide what to bring."

"It's just four days. You have enough stuff here for four months."

"It's not just four days. It's four days in New York. I don't know what to wear for New York."

Blaine helped Kurt sort through things for an hour or so, but it was obvious that it was going to take a lot longer than that for Kurt to finish packing. "Kurt, I think I'm going to go. I have a math test tomorrow that I should finish studying for."

"I'm sorry it's taking me so long to pack," said Kurt, leaving his suitcase to come put his arms around Blaine. "I promise you'll have my full attention as soon as this New York trip is over."

Blaine sighed, "It seems too long to wait. I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too."

"No you won't. You'll be having a great time."

"And wishing you were with me the whole time. It would be great if we could go to New York together sometime." He pauses, pulling back to look at Blaine. "I think that's where I want to go to school when I graduate."

"I thought that might be what you had in mind, you talk about New York so much. Don't worry, I already checked out the programs at NYU and they look good to me."

"Really? You'd come with me?"

"I'm definitely not going to let you go so far away for more than four days, so four years is definitely out of the question. Just think about it, as soon as we graduate, Baby, you and I are headed to New York."

"Okay, now I'm really excited to see all those places we'll be able to visit together next year. I'm not sure if that last outfit was good enough for that. Are you sure the skulls weren't too much?"

Laughing, Blaine says "Okay, I'm going to leave you to make the final decisions. Don't lose too much sleep, though. You look stunning no matter what you're wearing. Goodnight," he says, kissing Kurt.

"Goodnight," Kurt says happily. "Thanks, Blaine."


	3. After I Love You

Kurt texted Blaine from New York to let him know they hadn't made the finals, but he left the details for the coffee date they were planning for the morning after he got back.

Finally, at their favourite coffee place, Kurt was excitedly filling Blaine in on everything that had happened and Blaine was gazing back at him with an adorable, lovesick expression.

Then, out of nowhere, Blaine said "I love you."

Shocked, Kurt tried to figure out if he had really heard that correctly. Had Blaine really just said what he thought he had said? Blaine was just sitting there gazing at him patiently with that same loving expression.

Kurt figured he had better say something soon and quickly replied "I love you too."

After Sam and Mercedes had left, Blaine continued to talk about songs for his audition, while Kurt sat there dazed. He thought he should be paying attention to what his boyfriend was saying, but all he could think was "I think he just said he loved me."

When they had finished their coffees and were heading out the door, Blaine asked "What time do you have to be at school today?"

"Not until after lunch. Most of my classes are done. I just have a math review this afternoon, then our last glee meeting."

"Good, then we'll have lots of time to look at music."

They spent awhile looking at music. Kurt was still distracted and wasn't being particularly helpful, but luckily Blaine seemed to have a pretty good idea what he wanted, and quickly picked out a couple of options.

They drove the short way back to Kurt's house, Blaine still debating the merits of the various songs.

Once he'd parked in Kurt's driveway, Blaine was half way to the house before he realized that Kurt was still sitting in the car. Kurt seemed to realize this at the same time and jumped to get out and join Blaine.

Although Blaine could be pretty clueless sometimes, it seemed to him that Kurt wasn't acting quite like himself. "What's up?" he asked, as Kurt unlocked the door and let them in.

"Did you...did you really say you loved me?"

"I'm sorry, I know it wasn't a very romantic way to say it. I didn't plan to say it then. I was thinking it, and it just sort of came out. You probably would have preferred a romantic supper or a moonlit walk, or..."

Kurt cuts him off, smiling at Blaine's worried expression "Don't worry, spontaneity is pretty romantic."

"Is it?"

"Absolutely."

"I meant it," Blaine said softly, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend. " I love you Kurt Hummel." He kissed Kurt passionately, then pulled back to ask "Is that really so hard to believe?"

"Only because I've loved you for ages, and for the longest time, I thought you would never feel the same way."

"How long, Kurt? When did you first realize it?"

"I'm not sure exactly when," Kurt says thoughtfully. I remember when Mr. Shuester came and visited me before Christmas, he asked me about you, and I told him I was in love with you. That was the first time I actually said it, but as soon as the words were out of my mouth, I knew it was the truth."

"Wow, that's a long time. I'm sorry I was clueless for so long."

"Well, at least you figured it out eventually. I was afraid you never would."

"Forgive me?"

"Of course I forgive you. I love you." Kurt kissed him, and to Blaine's surprise, instead of backing off like he usually did whenever things started to heat up, Kurt was shyly slipping his tongue between Blaine's open lips.

Blaine responded, matching Kurt's movements with his own tongue, his arms locked tight around Kurt's waist, until they both pulled back, gasping.

Kurt led Blaine to the couch and pushed him down gently on it, lying on top of him to continue kissing where they'd left off. Kurt moved to kiss Blaine's neck, his earlobe, the top of his shoulder, enjoying the little gasps from his boyfriend whenever his lips found a new spot.

"Hey, Kurt, have you seen my...oh, sorry," Finn said, embarrassed, as Kurt sighed and reluctantly climbed off his boyfriend. "Never mind." He turned and headed back upstairs.

"I should probably get back to studying so I have time to work on my audition later. I can't wait until exams are over and I can spend every spare minute with you."

"Am I going to get to hear your potential audition songs?" asked Kurt as they headed towards the door.

"So, you were paying attention after all. I thought you'd never ask. I'll call you tonight after I've had a chance to practice, and sing them for you." He kissed Kurt softly and said "Goodbye, Love."

"Bye, Blaine," Kurt said, closing the door. He turned around to sink down on the floor. "Blaine Anderson just called me Love," he said to himself. He was going to be in a dazed state for the rest of the day now.


	4. Summer

**Well, it's been awhile, but here is the continuation of the story, starting as summer vacation begins.**

The June day was hot, humid and sticky. Kurt and Blaine sat side by side in lawn chairs on Kurt's patio, soaking up the warmth and enjoying their first day of freedom from exams.

"So, when do you start work?" asked Kurt. He knew that Blaine had gotten the Six Flags job that he'd wanted.

"Not until Tuesday, so we've got three full days together before I start. They're going to be keeping me pretty busy this summer."

"What do you mean? How much are you working?"

"It's three shows a day, six days a week, right up until classes start again."

"But that's like the entire summer," Kurt protested. "Will I at least be able to see you after your last show?"

"Well, the last one doesn't end until ten o'clock, and with the drive, it would probably get pretty late," said Blaine apologetically. "But," he added, noticing Kurt's glaring expression, "I don't have to do anything between shows, maybe you could come hang out with me."

"So, all the dates I'm going to have with my boyfriend this summer are going to be at an amusement park?"

"Don't forget about Mondays. I have every Monday off, so we can do whatever you want. And for the Fourth of July, they have a special performance that I'm not in, so I have that whole three day weekend off, too."

Kurt sighs. "Why are you working so much anyway? Aren't you supposed to have time to relax in the summer?"

Blaine takes his hand. "New York's not going to be cheap, Kurt, and I'm not sure my parents will be very supportive when I don't pick their first choice school. I don't want anything to stand in the way of our going there together." Blaine seemed pleased that the mere mention of New York was enough to stop Kurt's rant. "So what about you? Are you going to spend your entire summer working on your musical?"

"Well, since you won't be around much, I guess I might have to find something else to do. Dad said he'd pay me to help in the shop if I wanted to, buy maybe I can find something more suited to my talents," he said with a grin. After all, working towards getting their own place in New York didn't sound like a bad thing at all.

They spent the rest of the day being lazy, enjoying the feeling of having no assignments due, nothing to study and the freedom to just be together for an entire day.

After supper with Kurt's family, they decided to go for a walk, despite the muggy weather, both wanting to be outside after all those long hours spent indoors writing exams.

Walking hand in hand through the empty park, they were too caught-up in each other to notice the dark clouds moving in quickly. Even the sound of thunder in the distance didn't distract them from planning what they would do on Blaine's days off.

So when the sky opened up and started pouring, they were caught out in the middle of the park. Blaine quickly pulled Kurt under a tree, but even with the tree's shelter, they were soon soaked.

Kurt closed his eyes, breathing in deeply. "I love the smell of rain when it's been dry for a long time. My Mom loved it too. She and I used to sit outside in this little gazebo we had and watch the storms."

"You must miss her a lot," Blaine said, pulling Kurt tightly into his arms, while trying really hard not to think of the way that Kurt's soaking wet clothes were clinging tightly to his body.

"It's been years, but there are still so many little things that remind me of her – storms and Beatles songs and a lot of her old recipes that I still use. It's good though, because I wouldn't want to forget any of those things."

Blaine holds him close, gently stroking his back as the rain continues to come down in sheets and the claps of thunder start to get louder.

Kurt pulls back, suddenly aware of how muscular Blaine's chest feels under his wet T-shirt. "Maybe we should head back. The storm seems to be getting closer."

Running back to Kurt's house, hand in hand, they are both reminded of the first day they met, on the Dalton staircase.

As Kurt starts to head to the door, Blaine says "Wait."

Kurt turns around. "What?"

"I can't let you go in without first telling you," he pauses nervously, "how incredibly sexy you look soaking wet," he finally blurts out, obviously somewhat embarrassed.

"You look pretty hot yourself," Kurt says as Blaine, now feeling more confident, pushes him back against the side of the house and kisses him passionately.

Kurt's not sure if it's the contrast between the cold rain and the heat coming off their bodies, or if it's all the electricity in the air, but this kiss feels like fire, and he doesn't ever want it to stop.

Luckily, Blaine has no intention of stopping. He loves it when Kurt's arms wrap tightly around him, pulling him even closer. It's amazing how safe he feels with lightning flashing nearby and thunder booming around them, as if being wrapped in Kurt's arms is some sort of protective bubble where nothing can touch them...until the door opens. Trust Burt to penetrate the bubble, Blaine thinks as he jumps back rapidly, trying to pretend he didn't just have Burt's son flattened up against the side of their house.

"There you are. We were getting worried. I was going to come find you and see if you needed a ride. Come inside – the storm's getting pretty close." He turns and heads inside with the two boys following reluctantly behind him. Neither one saw the smirk on Burt's face. He knew what he'd interrupted, and actually, they were pretty cute together.

Once inside, Kurt scrounged up a pair of sweatpants from the farthest depths of his closet, as well as a T-shirt for Blaine to change into. As Blaine headed to the bathroom to change, Kurt was a bit disappointed. Their clinging wet clothes had certainly left him thinking about what his boyfriend looked like without his shirt on. Realistically though, he thought as he changed into dry clothes himself, he wasn't ready to be undressing in front of Blaine yet.

They spent the rest of the night watching movies, curled up under a blanket on the living room couch. Around 11:00, Burt came downstairs. "Probably time for you to be heading home, Blaine. The storm's passed and it's getting late."

"You're right," said Blaine, jumping up. "I should be going."

As Kurt headed up to his room after Blaine left, he thought about how warm and comfortable he'd been in his boyfriend's arms just a few minutes ago. He wished he could have just taken him up to his room and fallen asleep curled up against him. There had to be a way to make that happen, even with Burt's dutiful parental vigilance. After a few minutes of thought, Kurt had a plan, one that might even get him a look at a shirtless Blaine.


	5. Scheming

Kurt was certainly a master schemer, and over the next few days, he put his plan in motion. First he got Finn on board, then Mercedes and the girls. Finn talked to the New Directions guys. Only Blaine remained ignorant to his plan. He didn't want to say anything until he'd overcome the biggest hurdle – his Dad.

"Dad, a bunch of the kids from New Directions are going camping for the long weekend. Can Finn and I go with them?"

"You want to go camping?" asked Burt incredulously.

"Yes."

"The last time I took you camping, you did nothing but complain about the bugs, and the fish swimming too close to you in the lake, and having to eat hot dogs and..."

"Dad, I was ten. I've grown up a lot since then."

"Is Blaine going?" asked Burt, hitting on the real reason why Kurt wanted to go camping.

"He's invited," Kurt said. "Rachel's going too, but nothing's going to happen, Dad. Finn and I can share a tent. Blaine and Rachel will each have their own. We'll be with all the other New Directions kids the whole time."

"I don't know, kid. You alone with your boyfriend and Finn with his girlfriend, and no adult supervision, doesn't make me feel real comfortable with this trip."

"We're not having sex, I promise. Blaine and I are definitely not ready, and trust me, Rachel is not going to let Finn anywhere near her. But realistically, Dad, if we wanted to have sex, you couldn't stop us. You and Carol aren't home every second. We both have vehicles, and you can't keep track of where we are every second. Letting us go camping or not letting us go isn't going to change anything."

There was an awkward pause, as Burt pictured all the possible opportunities Blaine had to get his son alone. Finally, he said "I'll talk to Carol, and we'll let you know. I've got to get to work now, though. What are you planning to do today?"

"I'm not sure. Blaine's working all day. I guess I could start on my musical."

"I could still use your help at the shop."

"Thanks, Dad. I might look and see if I can find something different, but I'll let you know."

As it turned out, he didn't have to look too hard. He was just starting to go through the online classifieds, and already wearing a look of disdain, at both the starting wages, and the required duties of most of the jobs he was qualified for, when his phone rang. He was somewhat surprised to see Sam's number, since he knew Sam was busy working and babysitting all summer.

"Hey, Kurt, are you interested in working at all this summer?" he asked.

"Actually, I've just been looking at some of the ads online. Otherwise I'm going to end up working for my Dad. Why are you asking? I thought you'd had a job lined-up for months."

"I have. I've got a job as a counsellor at an arts day camp for kids. They gave me a deal for my brother and sister to attend, so it's working out perfectly. The problem is that we just found out this morning that our musical theatre instructor quit. She was supposed to work with the kids every afternoon, and they're supposed to put on a musical at the end of the summer. If we don't find someone else right away, they're going to make me do it, and I don't know the first thing about Broadway. But, you would be perfect for the job, Kurt. It's just three hours in the afternoons, Monday to Friday. There's no weekends or holidays and the pay is really good. Please, Kurt. I know you'd be terrific."

"Which musical is it?" asked Kurt.

"You'd get to pick. Anything you want."

"When would the job start?"

"Well, this week is just supposed to be planning, so if you could come to our meeting tomorrow morning, that would be great, then you have the afternoon to plan stuff for you section. The kids start next Monday. So, are you in?"

Kurt thought about it for a second. Helping kids put on a musical sounded a lot better than pumping gas, serving fries, or any of the other jobs he'd seen advertised. He's gone to one of those camps as a kid once and had loved it. Plus, he got to pick the musical.

"Okay, I'll do it," he said.

"Thank you so much, Kurt," said Sam, sounding very relieved. "You have no idea how happy I am that I don't have to direct a musical on top of teaching them all guitar."

A few minutes later, after getting all the details from Sam about the meeting tomorrow, Kurt sent a text to Blaine. _Only 10:00 and I already found a job. See u tonite. K_

* * *

><p>Kurt and Blaine were planning to have supper together in between Blaine's shows, but Kurt decided to make supper for the rest of his family. He was hoping to give his Dad and Carol time to talk, and maybe also influence their decision.<p>

When they got home, he quickly ushered them out to the patio, where he had cold glasses of lemonade waiting for them, while he put the finishing touches on dinner.

He called Finn down first, then his Dad and Carol, hoping they'd had enough time for Carol to work some of her magic and convince his Dad to let them go.

"Thanks for cooking, Kurt. This looks wonderful," said Carol.

"I assume since you're sitting here with us, but not actually eating anything, that you're hoping for a decision on the camping thing," said Burt gruffly.

Kurt nodded. Even Finn stopped eating for a second and looked up.

"We've decided that you can both go" said Burt grudgingly, "but we have a few rules."

"We want you to go to an actual campground, not just a random place off in the woods," added Carol.

"Next, there will be absolutely no alcohol, and this needs to include all your friends as well. We realize you two have been pretty responsible in that department this year, but we don't want you having to deal with drunk friends, or boyfriends," he added with a look at Kurt. Poor Blaine was never going to live that incident down. "In the middle of nowhere, with a lake nearby, and who knows how far a drive to the hospital if someone did get in trouble. We can talk to the other parents and make sure that everyone's on the same page."

"And finally, as you'd mentioned, Kurt, you and Finn will share a tent, and will be responsible for each others' whereabouts at night," finished Carol.

"So, we can really go?" asked Kurt unbelievingly.

"I can't wait to tell Rachel. She'll be so excited. She's already been planning the songs she's going to perform around the campfire," said Finn.

"So, Kurt, since you'll be needing money for gas and everything, I guess I can count on your help in the shop, then," said Burt.

"Well actually, I have news in that department. I got a job today! I'll be working at a kids' arts camp, in charge of the musical theatre section. I get to work with the kids every afternoon and at the end of the summer, we put on a musical. Sorry, Dad, maybe you should put an ad online. I could help you," he said apologetically.

* * *

><p>Kurt met Blaine at the entrance to Six Flags at 7:00, as planned. Blaine had already scouted out the restaurants and had found one conveniently near where he performed that had at least a few healthier items that Kurt might be willing to eat.<p>

Blaine greeted him with an enthusiastic hug. His first day of work had been great and he couldn't wait for his boyfriend to see the show.

"So, tell me about your job," Blaine said once they sat down. "That must be some sort of world record for the quickest successful job sarch."

Kurt filled Blaine in on the details of his new job, not spending as much time describing it as he might have otherwise. He was too excited for his other news.

"So what are you doing for the Fourth of July weekend?" he asked.

"I was planning on doing whatever you're doing," said Blaine with a grin.

"Great, then it's settled. You and I are going camping with the rest of New Directions."

"That's terrific. I'd love to spend the whole weekend with you." Blaine pauses. "You mean camping, like outside, right?"

"Yes, I mean camping, like in the woods, near a lake, sleeping in tents. Don't you know what camping is?"

"Oh, I know what camping is. I just didn't know you were the outdoorsy type. I love that I'm still learning new things about you all the time," he says, taking Kurt's hand across the table.

"Do you think your parents will let you go? Mine barely agreed, and came up with a whole list of rules we all have to follow."

"I'm sure it won't be a problem," Blaine said quickly. He looked at his watch, suddenly in hurry. "I'd better go get ready for the last show. You know where to go to watch, right?"

"Yeah, you pointed it out earlier when..." Kurt stopped as he watched Blaine hurrying away. Sighing, he got up and started walking in the direction Blaine had gone. He knew Blaine tried to keep his problems at home to himself, but eventually, he was just going to have to open up about it.


	6. Camping 1

"I'm so not the outdoorsy type," Kurt muttered to himself as he loaded up the cooler with hot dogs on Saturday morning. Not only was he not a fan of sleeping outside at the best of times, but the cloudy skies and light drizzle were not making him feel optimistic about this trip.

When Blaine arrived, though, he put his sarcastic thoughts aside. It was hard to be negative when your gorgeous boyfriend was grinning at you with a headful of unruly dark curls, looking as excited as a little kid. Blaine practically bounced over to Kurt and gave him a quick kiss. "So when do we leave?" he asked.

"Just as soon as Rachel gets here and we finish loading everything in the Navigator. Is all your stuff still in your car?"

"No, I left it with Finn. He was already trying to fit everything in."

Their plan was to leave by 9:00 and hopefully meet everyone else at the lake sometime after lunch. By the time Rachel arrived, though, and they repacked the Navigator to accommodate her stuff as well, it was already 9:30.

Then, Burt wanted to go over everything again. "Kurt, here's a map of where you're going."

"I have a map, Dad. I printed one out last week."

"Well, this one has the locations of all the hospitals between here and there, as well as potentially useful emergency numbers. Now, I don't know if your cell phones will work out there, but I have the phone number for the camp office if I need to reach you, and I'm sure you'll be able to use their phone if you have an emergency. Now, about the alcohol situation..."

"Dad, I don't think you need to worry there. Puck's not going. Lauren apparently refused to go camping, so he decided not to go either. No one else is going to try to bring anything, and since we're all underage, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't let us in the campground with it anyway."

It was 10:00 by the time they finally made their escape. By 10:30, Kurt was beginning to regret having driven with Finn and Rachel at all. Not only was Rachel extremely opinionated when it came to which songs they should listen to, she also sang so loudly, that Kurt couldn't even hear Blaine's beautiful voice. Eventually, though, Kurt managed to subtly turn down the music, and gave a relieved sigh as she and Finn finally started their own conversation in the back seat. Blaine gave him another big smile.

"What?" Kurt asked.

"Just looking forward to spending the whole weekend with you," Blaine answered.

"Me too. I still can't believe my Dad let me go, even with the long list of rules and emergency numbers."

"What, you think driving directions to fifteen hospitals was going overboard?" They both laughed. "It's nice that he cares about you that much."

"I know it is. I'm really lucky to have him. Blaine, I know things aren't great with you and your parents, but it seems weird that even after we've been together for a couple of months, that I still don't know anything about them. I mean, I've never met them. You never talk about them. I don't even know what their names are.

Blaine sighed. "I know I don't talk about them much. My situation at home is kind of awkward, and I'd rather not even think about it. And I really wish I could take you home and introduce you, and I'm sure my Mom would love you, but trust me, nothing good would happen if I took you to my house."

"So why did they let you come here with me?"

"Because they don't have a clue what I'm really doing. They actually prefer not to know. I just said "Mom, I'm going camping with some friends for the weekend," and she said "That's nice, sweetie," and that was it. It's not that she doesn't care, it's just that she hates lying to my Dad, and he would definitely not approve of me going camping with my boyfriend, or of my even having a boyfriend in the first place." Now that Blaine had started talking, things just seemed to flow. "See, back when I went to that Sadie Hawkins dance, I told my Mom that I was going with another guy, but we lied to my Dad about it. I think she told him I was going over to a friend's house, or something, and when he found out the truth, he was absolutely livid. He was furious with me for going to a dance with another guy, and for getting beat up, which he thought was my fault, but he was furious with her too, for lying to him. He can be really intimidating."

"Did he hit you guys?"

"No, I don't think he hit her. He's never hurt me; he's only threatened to, but I think he really scared her. She's never really been the same since then. She doesn't ask for any details anymore, and he really doesn't care what I do as long as it's not something he would disapprove of. It's a lot easier when I'm at Dalton and we don't see each other much, but summer's tough. She's got to know something's up. I mean, I spend every spare minute with you, but she just can't bring herself to ask me about it."

"I don't think I could have made it through the last year without my family supporting me. I don't know how you did it on your own."

"I didn't make it, Kurt. I ran away, remember. You stood up for yourself, and I went and hid at Dalton. But now I have you, and Dalton really is great, and everything's okay, better than okay. Actually, it feels really good to finally tell you everything."

Kurt gave Blaine's hand a squeeze. Blaine was pretty quiet after that and Kurt was almost relieved when Rachel finally stopped talking to Finn long enough to realize that the music had been turned down, and demanded that they start singing again. The rest of the trip passed fairly quickly as they took turns choosing songs.

Around 2:00, they finally saw the sign for the turn-off to the campground. Kurt started to make the left turn, but stopped dead at the entrance to the driveway.

"We can't go that way," he said.

"Dude, what do you mean? This is the way to the campground. We have to go this way!" exclaimed Finn.

"It's gravel," said Kurt, horrified. "My baby has never been on gravel."

"Your what?" asked Finn.

"My baby – my car. It'll get dusty if we go down that road."

"Wait, I thought you called Blaine baby. That's what you're always moaning in your sleep, anyway."

"Finn! I do not."

"Look, Kurt," Blaine jumped in as another car pulled in behind them, "I think you're going to have to drive on the gravel. Just go slowly and I promise I'll help you wash your car when we get home. I'm sure we'll be able to get all the dust off."

"Allright," Kurt sighed, "I guess we've got no choice."

"Thank you," Finn mouthed to Blaine as Kurt started driving forward very slowly.

* * *

><p>Eventually, they arrived at the campground to find Mike, Tina, Brittany and Santana already there. The manager, smartly, had decided to put the unsupervised teenagers off on their own, in a large field that was a group camping area, rather than in the smaller sites among the visiting families. The drizzle had stopped, but the skies were still overcast and it was definitely not beach weather. They set-up their tents, Kurt failing miserably in his attempt to convince Blaine that he really was outdoorsy. Luckily, Blaine had gone camping as a kid, and knew what he was doing. The two of them set-up their two tents, while Finn helped Rachel with hers.<p>

After Mercedes, Sam and Artie arrived and set-up their tents, they spent the afternoon getting firewood, exploring the area and playing Frisbee. As it started getting later, the guys decided to have a contest to see who could get a fire going first. As it turned out, though, none of them won. As they were all still struggling to get any of the wood to catch, Mercedes, the former girl scout, already had a roaring fire going. They all decided to use her fire for cooking. Soon enough, they were roasting hot dogs, and Kurt was pretending to enjoy eating them. Once it began to get darker, they switched to marshmallows and smores.

As Finn went off to get more chocolate from the car, Kurt decided it was time to start scheming again. He took Finn's spot next to Rachel, who was concentrating, trying to make a perfectly even golden brown marshmallow.

"Finn asked me to talk to you," he said. "He really wants to spend the night with you, but he's afraid to ask you because he doesn't want you to think he's trying to have sex with you. He said he just wanted to hold you all night and wake up next to you in the morning."

"That's so romantic. I didn't know he felt that way. It's a good thing I brought my purple nightgown, the one with the high neck. You know, sexy, but not too suggestive. Unless maybe..."

"So you want me to tell him to come to your tent then?" he asked, cutting her off.

"Yes, I think that would be best, then maybe we could go for a moonlit walk by the lake and..."

"That's great, Rachel. Finn will be very happy."

Kurt stopped Finn on his way back from the car. "Rachel asked me to talk to you. She really wants to spend the night with you, but she's afraid you'll want to have sex, and she's not ready. She's really hoping for a romantic night where she can fall asleep in your arms."

"Wow, I didn't think she'd want to be alone with me at night. Thanks, bro. I definitely owe you one."

_No, I owe you one_, Kurt thought. Out loud, he said "No problem, I'm happy to help. She said to come to her tent tonight."

As Kurt came back to sit next to Blaine, the rest of the group, led by Rachel, of course, was already singing songs. The first part of his plan had been easy, but he wasn't sure how to approach the final part. Every time he opened his mouth to ask Blaine, he got nervous and closed it again. As the others started to head off to bed, he was running out of time. He walked his boyfriend to his tent, his heart starting to pound. He had to ask him now. "Finn's going to visit Rachel tonight. Do you...do you want to come to my tent later?"

Blaine looked surprised, but not unhappy. "Sure, I'd love to."

"Wait until Finn leaves, then come over. I'll see you later," Kurt said, kissing Blaine quickly.

* * *

><p>Back in his tent, Kurt couldn't figure out what to do with all his nervous energy. If he'd been at home, he would have been pacing, but that just wasn't an option in a tent. What had he gotten himself into? How was he going to handle being alone with Blaine all night? What if things started to get more intense than he was ready for? Kurt was afraid Finn would know something was up, between his nervousness, and his extensive tooth-brushing and mouthwash routine, but Finn was pre-occupied thinking about Rachel and didn't realize that anything was different with Kurt.<p>

Blaine, however, was also a nervous wreck. In his case though, he had no idea what Kurt had in mind for tonight and he was always afraid of going too far and scaring him. Every time they were alone together, he was always terrified that his body would ignore his brain and get carried away, and then Kurt would break-up with him. But what if he did nothing and then Kurt thought he wasn't attracted to him? What was he supposed to do? A few minutes later, he heard someone go by. It was so dark, with the overcast skies, that he couldn't see anything, but by the sounds of the footsteps, it was someone big and somewhat clumsy, and that could only be Finn. Blaine quietly slipped out of his tent and crept towards Kurt's. Maybe it was silly to worry about what he was wearing in total darkness, but he hoped he was dressed alright in simple plaid pajama pants and a grey T-shirt.

"Kurt," he whispered outside the tent, "it's me." The door was unzipped slowly, and Kurt's hand reached out to help him in. He crawled in to lie on top of the air mattress. He reached out, trying to figure out where his boyfriend was, finding his arm. He couldn't see what Kurt was wearing, but from the feel of the sleeve under his hand, it was something silky. Suddenly feeling very overwhelmed, he decided he had to be honest. "I'm nervous," he said. "I'm not sure what you're expecting tonight."

"I'm nervous, too," Kurt confided, "and I really just want to be with you all night, to just fall asleep in your arms. I'm not sure if I'm ready for more than that yet. Is that okay?"

"Sounds perfect to me," Blaine said, pulling him close. Kurt put his head on Blaine's shoulder, his hand resting lightly on his chest. He could hear Blaine's heart beating quietly under his ear and feel Blaine's strong arms locked tightly around him.

In Kurt's fantasies, Blaine would hold him like this as he drifted off into a peaceful sleep, waking the next morning, still in his boyfriend's arms. The reality, it turned out, was quite different. First of all, using Blaine's shoulder as a pillow was comfortable for a few minutes, but there was no way he could stay like that all night. Next, how was he supposed to sleep with Blaine's heart beating away loudly under his ear? Sure, it was comforting at first, but it really didn't make him want to fall asleep. He shifted onto his side and Blaine cuddled up behind him, slipping an arm protectively around his waist. This was more comfortable, but Kurt still couldn't get his brain to shut off and relax. He just kept thinking about how he was spending the night with Blaine, and how good it felt to have him so close, and how he should really get some sleep. But no matter what he did, he was still wide awake. He tried rolling over and facing Blaine's back, slipping an arm around his waist. This also felt great, but he wasn't any sleepier. At least it didn't feel awkward to be lying silently next to Blaine for hours. It just felt comfortable.

Towards morning, Kurt drifted off for an hour or two. He wasn't sure if Blaine got any sleep at all. Certainly every time Kurt shifted positions, Blaine seemed to be awake too, shifting his position as well so they were always cuddled-up tightly together.

It was almost a relief when morning came, just so they wouldn't have to keep trying to sleep. "Morning," Kurt said. "Did you sleep at all? I hope I didn't keep you up all night."

"A little bit, maybe, but don't worry. It was a great night anyway."

Blaine slipped quietly back to his own tent so Finn and the rest of their friends wouldn't know they'd spent the night together. When Finn returned to the tent a little while later, Kurt was already dressed and ready to start getting breakfast. For minimal sleep, he felt pretty good. Apparently it was true what he'd heard, that you needed less sleep when you were falling in love. He was looking forward to another night alone with Blaine, and if the bright sun pouring into the tent was any indication, to a hot beach day, and maybe his first glimpse of a shirtless Blaine.


	7. Camping 2

Even early in the morning, you could tell it was one of those days that was going to be sweltering. The sun was so strong, that Kurt was wishing he had put sunblock on before breakfast. He was still finishing-up his granola bar and juice with most of his friends, who seemed to be moving pretty slowly, whether from lack of sleep or lack of coffee, he wasn't sure. It seemed no one was brave enough to try the instant coffee they'd brought with them. Blaine, however, had polished off breakfast in record time, and had run off (literally running) to get ready for the beach.

"Are you ready?" he asked, dressed in a T-shirt and swimming trunks, a towel flung over his shoulder. "I love the beach. I could spend all day in the water and never get tired of it," he said, bouncing from side to side.

"Just about ready," said Kurt, swallowing the last of his juice. "I just have to get changed."

"Let's get going then, we're wasting daylight," Blaine said as he pulled Kurt to his feet and they walked to Kurt's tent. Blaine waited outside as Kurt got ready. "Are you almost ready?" he asked. "How long does it take to get changed?"

"I'm putting on sunscreen. With today's UV index, it's critical that I don't miss any spots."

"Couldn't you do that on the beach?"

"I don't want to risk any unnecessary UV exposure."

"But if you'd done it on the beach, maybe I could have helped make sure you didn't miss any spots," Blaine said in a flirty tone.

Kurt didn't have an answer for that, but a minute later, he emerged in his swim trunks, a white long-sleeved shirt and a wide-brimmed hat, carrying a bag with extra sunscreen, water, a magazine and a towel.

"Let's go," Blaine said, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the beach at a run.

They weren't the first ones there. Rachel and Tina were already tanning. Rachel was very excited to show off her new pink bikini with gold stars. Kurt was setting up his towel near the girls, but Blaine had dumped his stuff hurriedly on the beach and was already half way to the lake. He just didn't seem to be able to resist the water. After walking in up to his knees, he dove in and swam out to where the water was shoulder height.

Kurt finally looked up from where he had finished spreading out his stuff to see his boyfriend out in the lake, waving for him to come out – his shirtless boyfriend. How had he missed that? Blaine had just been next to him. And now, he was going to have to take his shirt off and walk out to the lake while Blaine watched. He turned his back and started pulling off his hat and shirt. He wasn't sure Blaine would like what he saw. He didn't think he was bad-looking, with his lean, muscular body, but he certainly didn't spend any time lifting weights like Blaine did.

As he made his way to the water, he got a loud whistle from Mercedes, who had just arrived. "Looking hot, Kurt," she said.

Reaching the lake, he was in a hurry to get deep into the water where he would feel less-exposed, until he put one foot in. "It's freezing. How can you just dive in like that?" he asked Blaine, who was swimming around, waiting for Kurt to join him.

"It's great once you get in, I promise."

It took Kurt another few minutes to work his way out to where his boyfriend was, but Blaine was right, once he was out there, it wasn't bad. "Hi," he said shyly.

"Hi," Blaine replied.

Then there were big splashes on either side of Kurt as Finn and Sam dove in and Kurt found himself in the middle as they started to toss a football around. Kurt and Blaine played for awhile, before Kurt got bored and said he was going to swim for a bit. Blaine joined him, obviously comfortable in the water. He was almost swimming laps around Kurt instead of swimming with him.

"How are you such a good swimmer?" Kurt asked.

"I don't know. I had lessons when I was little, but I guess I was really just in the water every chance I got. Sometimes we went to the lake, or the ocean, and I would spend pretty much the whole day in the water."

"Do you want to get out for a bit?" Kurt asked after awhile. "I should probably reapply my sunscreen."

"Sure," Blaine said, following Kurt out.

They lay side by side on their towels, and Kurt finally got a good look at Blaine. Actually, he couldn't take his eyes off of his boyfriend – his well-defined pecs, gorgeous abs and a small amount of chest hair. All he could think about was running his fingers through it, and over those pecs and... He looked up quickly at Blaine's face, embarrassed to have been staring at him, not realizing that Blaine was looking at him the same way. "Do you want some water?" he asked, his voice higher than normal.

"Uh, sure," Blaine said, tearing himself away from his fantasy of kissing Kurt's smooth chest.

Kurt pulled out the SPF 60 and started reapplying it to his face. "Do you want some?" he asked.

"I don't usually burn."

"You should still protect your skin. You wouldn't want to look all leathery and wrinkled when you're older."

Blaine laughed, "No, I definitely wouldn't want to look all leathery next to your flawless complexion." He took some of Kurt's sunscreen and started to put it on his face, arms and chest.

"Do you want me to do your back?" asked Kurt, with a flirty smile.

"Sure," said Blaine, rolling onto his stomach. Kurt started slowly rubbing the sun-warmed lotion into Blaine's neck and shoulders. Blaine sighed contentedly. This wasn't just sunscreen application, this was a full-out massage. Kurt's hands were so soft, but powerful at the same time. It felt amazing with them rubbing his back. When Kurt was done, Blaine was quick to return the favour, also taking much longer than he really needed to massage-in the lotion. He picked-up the bottle and said, grinning "This says to reapply every two hours, so I guess we'll be doing this again at 12:30."

* * *

><p>They all spent a great day, alternating swimming and lying on the beach. Blaine spent more time in the water than Kurt, but came back frequently to hang out, or to reapply sunscreen. Rather than having a real lunch, they brought food back from the campsite and snacked throughout the day. By late afternoon, the guys started getting hungry and made their way out of the water to where Kurt, Artie and the girls were sitting. Kurt couldn't help but notice that Blaine was the best-looking of all the guys. How could he have had a crush on Finn the year before?<p>

"I'm starving," Blaine said. "What's the plan for supper?"

"Hot dogs, again," said Kurt apologetically. "It seemed like the safest thing for Finn to be cooking over a fire. I went and got more ice for the cooler earlier, so they should be fine."

"Sounds good to me. I'm hungry enough to eat just about anything."

This time, Blaine, obviously trying to impress Kurt, managed to get a fire going, and insisted on roasting a hot dog for him. "You're not eating much," he remarked, seeing Kurt holding his half-eaten supper.

"Just thinking about all the nitrates these must contain," Kurt said quickly, unwilling to admit that he'd really been daydreaming about what might happen later tonight.

Later on, when everyone else was busy making popcorn over the fire, and Rachel was trying to start some kind of vocal competition, Blaine whispered to Kurt "Do you want to go for a walk?" They slipped away, hand in hand, and walked along the beach with only the light from the moon. Blaine pulled him down to sit on the grass, leaning against a tree, his legs propped-up on either side of Kurt and Kurt leaning back into his chest.

"Look at all those stars," Blaine said. "That's really my favourite part of camping, even more than swimming. I love getting out of the city where there's no lights to interfere. And it's even more beautiful when I'm sitting here with you, Love. This has been an amazing trip. I'm so happy you thought of coming here."

"Me, too," Kurt said, turning around to look at Blaine and reaching a hand up around his neck to pull him in for a kiss.

Blaine loved it when Kurt initiated things – when he didn't have to worry about being too forward or scaring him. He gave into the kiss now, his lips moving perfectly against Kurt's.

"Do I get to see you again tonight?" he asked once Kurt pulled away.

"Finn seemed pretty happy when he came back this morning, so I'm willing to bet he'll be staying with Rachel again tonight, so yes, you will definitely get to stay with me."

* * *

><p>Blaine lay in his tent, waiting for Finn's familiar footsteps to go by, then he made his way to Kurt's tent. It was still warm out, even after sunset, and his tent had been really hot, so he'd settled for wearing his grey Dalton shorts and a grey T-shirt instead of pajamas. Once inside Kurt's tent, he sat on the edge of the air mattress and started taking off his shoes. Two familiar arms slipped around him from behind and he felt his boyfriend's lips on his neck. Unconsciously, Blaine leaned his head away with a contented sigh to give Kurt better access, as he continued to suck on Blaine's neck. Then he felt soft hands on his back, under his shirt, rubbing slowly upwards and starting to massage his shoulders. His head dropped forward as he relaxed completely under Kurt's touch. He felt his shirt being tugged upwards and lifted his arms to allow his boyfriend to remove it.<p>

Blaine somehow managed to kick-off his remaining shoe, while turning around to face Kurt. Kurt reached out for him again, unable to see in the darkness. His hand found Blaine's shoulder. He traced his hand tentatively down the center of Blaine's chest, then moved up again to run his fingers through his chest hair.

"I've wanted to do this all day," Kurt whispered.

"Me, too," Blaine replied, reaching for Kurt's shirt and pulling it off. Apparently Kurt had found it too hot for pajamas as well, since Blaine seemed to be holding a T-shirt, rather than the long-sleeved silk he'd had on yesterday. He flung the shirt to the side and reached one hand towards the body he'd been longing to touch all day, gently exploring Kurt's chest with his fingertips. He could hear Kurt starting to breathe more heavily, his own breathing getting louder as well, then Kurt's lips were on his. It was a little bit awkward, sitting facing each other, and as Kurt tried to deepen the kiss, he couldn't reach as well as he wanted to. He climbed on top of Blaine, straddling his lap and kissed him again passionately.

As they eventually pulled back, gasping, Blaine whispered "Who the hell are you, and what did you do with Kurt Hummel?"

"Sorry, I guess I got a little carried away."

"Don't be sorry; I liked it," the dark-haired boy whispered. "Do you want to stop?"

Kurt didn't answer him with words, but the intensity of the kiss that followed left Blaine without any question that Kurt wanted this. Their kisses continued, broken only by quick gasps for breath. Kurt locked his arms tight around Blaine's shoulders, pulling them even closer together and, to Blaine's surprise, settling himself firmly against his lap. Even through their clothes, he could feel that Kurt was as excited as he was. As Kurt started to move against him, Blaine reached for his hips, encouraging him to keep moving, not wanting him to stop. "Kurt," he breathed, then gasped against his boyfriend's lips as Kurt sucked hard on his bottom lip and started to move faster and faster.

"Blaine, Baby," Kurt moaned. "Baby, I'm... ohhh."

The sounds coming from his boyfriend were enough to put Blaine over the edge. "Kurt," he gasped one last time, wishing he could see the expression in the other boy's eyes. Then they collapsed together back onto the air mattress, Kurt still on top of him. They held each other silently for a few minutes as their breathing slowed down and they realized what they had just done.

"Are you alright, Love?" Blaine asked.

"I'm great. I didn't plan that. I guess I just got carried away. I liked it, though. I wasn't scared like I thought I would be. Was it okay for you?"

"It was incredible. Being that close to you was the best thing I've ever felt. I love you so much."

"I love you too, Blaine." Kurt pulled a blanket over them and cuddled-up tightly against Blaine.

The last thing Blaine remembered thinking was: _Finn was right, he does call me Baby. Does that mean he's been having dreams about me?_ Then his eyes closed and he fell asleep almost immediately, sleeping soundly, wrapped tightly around his boyfriend, until the sun was up the next morning


	8. The Accidental Meeting

If Kurt thought his Dad's willingness to let him go camping with Blaine meant the start of a bit more freedom, he was sadly mistaken. Maybe it was Kurt's speech about how Burt and Carol weren't always home and he and Blaine could manage to have sex if they really wanted to, or maybe it was the fact that Kurt returned from camping in a particularly good mood and Burt didn't believe he really like the outdoors that much. In any case, every Monday, Blaine's only day off, without fail, someone was always home. The two boys usually went for a leisurely coffee date on Monday mornings, then Kurt would go to work in the afternoons, and they would always do something Monday nights. Anything but Six Flags was Kurt's only requirement for those dates. Sometimes they went out to Breadstix and a movie, spent time with friends, or had supper with Kurt's family and hung out in his room for the evening. Unfortunately, with Burt going frequently by the open door, they never felt truly alone. Any other time they saw each other in a week seemed to be at Six Flags. Kurt had eaten more amusement park food than he even wanted to think about, had been multiple times on any ride he was actually willing to go on, and from their extensive walks through the grounds, had the layout of the entire park memorized. If he hadn't been with Blaine, he would have hated it, but he was really just happy to spend time with him, wherever they happened to be. What they weren't getting, though, was any real time alone. They might take their time saying goodnight, parked in Kurt's driveway, but since Burt seemed to need to water the front flower beds at the oddest times, things couldn't get too carried away. Neither boy really wanted to go park in a random deserted area, which certainly wouldn't be the safest place for two gay teens in Ohio to make-out, so they stuck with their coffee dates and getting caught kissing by Burt.

Blaine was pretty busy with work and Kurt was really enjoying his job at the kids camp and starting to spend more and more time getting things ready for their musical. They hadn't seen each other since Monday this week, and it was already Sunday. Kurt was planning to spend the whole day with Blaine at Six Flags, and after incessantly pleading with his Dad for the last day, he had a surprise for Blaine.

Blaine picked Kurt up and they headed for the Lima Bean first thing in the morning. Kurt could hardly wait until they sat down with their coffees to give Blaine the good news.

"So you know how you were planning on dropping me off at home tonight, then you'd get home really late, sleep in, and we'd hardly have any time together tomorrow morning?" Blaine nodded, sipping his coffee. "Well, my Dad said that you could sleep on the couch tonight if you want to. Then we'd get to spend all of tomorrow morning together and," he said dropping his voice, "maybe we could manage to spend some time alone together, too."

Blaine smiled. "I would really like that. A lot," he added for extra emphasis. "Why don't we run to my place and get my stuff now? We should have enough time before I need to be at work."

"Are you sure it's okay for me to go to your house?"

"Yeah, it should be fine. My Mom's on some sort of weekend getaway with her friends, and my Dad's been away on business somewhere all week. I would have been alone tonight anyway."

* * *

><p>When they pulled-up in Blaine's driveway, Kurt was suddenly nervous. It seemed strange to finally be seeing his boyfriend's house after months, even if he wouldn't actually be meeting his parents.<p>

Blaine took his hand and led him up the driveway of the fairly large, newer house, which seemed nearly identical to all of the neighbouring houses. Blaine quickly pointed-out the living room and kitchen, both fashionably-decorated and immaculate. To Kurt, it didn't seem to have that homey quality that his own house had always had. There was no smell of recent baking, no newspaper left out where his father always left it, nothing to indicate that real people actually lived here. Blaine led him upstairs and down the hallway to his room. This room at least seemed to have some character. Here there were pictures on the walls – some of Kurt and some of the Warblers. There was a keyboard and sheet music strewn all over the desk. It looked like Blaine spent most of his time here. Kurt continued to look at the pictures and the DVD collection on one set of shelves while Blaine grabbed a duffel bag and started throwing stuff in. It didn't take him long to get everything he needed, and there wasn't any time to spare before he had to leave for work. They headed back out into the hallway, Blaine with the duffel bag over his shoulder, Kurt a few steps behind, having been gazing at a picture of Blaine as a little kid. He was still thinking about that adorable picture, when Blaine suddenly stopped in front of him.

"Blaine," a loud voice said.

"Hi, Dad," Blaine replied, dropping his eyes, his shoulders rounding forward. Everything about his posture suddenly seemed submissive.

"Who's this?" the voice boomed again.

Kurt finally caught-up with Blaine to see a tall man with greying dark brown hair at the top of the stairs, carrying a suitcase and wearing an unpleasant expression.

Blaine looked at Kurt, catching his eye, suddenly pulling himself up straighter. He looked his father in the eye and said defiantly "This is my boyfriend, Kurt Hummel. Kurt, this is my father, Stephen Anderson."

It seemed to take his father a second to process what his son had just said to him, a second of silence before an explosion. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Did we or did we not have this conversation the last time you dated a boy and ended-up in the hospital? You know that behaviour is not acceptable in this house and," he glanced at Kurt, "for you to openly bring _him_ here and introduce him like you're proud to be with him. I don't know who you are anymore, but you're certainly not the son I raised. Get your stuff and go. Get out of my house and don't come back. And don't think I'll keep paying for that expensive school of yours. You're on your own." He turned and walked back down the stairs, leaving his suitcase at the top of the stairs. The front door slammed shut.

Wordlessly, Blaine turned and headed back to his room. Kurt followed him and sat on the bed as Blaine grabbed another bag and started throwing more things in. It seemed pretty random to Kurt, buy maybe there was some kind of logic to it. Maybe Blaine, as upset as he was, was really picking out the things that meant most to him. Kurt wasn't sure how to help, other than just being there with him. He watched as Blaine's Dalton clothes went in the bag, not just the uniform, but his T-shirt and sweatshirt with the Dalton logo as well. A scruffy stuffed dog from one of the drawers in his bedside table was also thrown in, as was a small notebook, and some loose sheets of music it appeared Blaine had been composing. Blaine took a final look around, grabbed a picture of the two of them and his laptop, and said "Let's get out of here." Kurt grabbed his other bag and they headed downstairs and out the door. Blaine locked it, dropped the house key through the mail slot, turned and didn't look back. He dumped all his stuff into the trunk of his car and made no objection to Kurt taking his car keys, heading for the passenger side instead.

"So, now what?" Blaine asked, having flopped down in the passenger seat.

"Well, I don't think you should go to work," Kurt replied.

"I forgot, I have to work today," Blaine said, seeming slightly dazed.

"Why don't I call and tell them you can't make it?"

"They won't like me cancelling on them at the last minute. They won't have time to get anyone else."

"Don't worry, I'll think of something. Do you have the number?"

"In my phone. It's listed as work. Ask for Kevin. He's in charge of the music. Kurt, please don't tell him what happened. I don't want everyone to know."

Kurt nodded. "Hi, could I speak to Kevin, please?" he said into Blaine's phone. "This is Kurt, Blaine's boyfriend. Blaine's not going to be able to come to work today. He got stung by a bee and he's allergic, so we're at the hospital now. He's so swollen already, he can't even talk, so there's no way he could sing." There was a pause, then "Yeah, no problem. Bye," Kurt said. "Okay, you're all set with work."

Blaine didn't respond. He was staring straight ahead again and looking dazed. Kurt started the car and started driving back to his house. Blaine stayed silent for the whole ride. They arrived and Kurt turned off the car. Blaine didn't move.

"Baby, I want to help you, but I'm not sure what to do here."

"Why don't we go inside?" Blaine asked, apparently just realizing they'd arrived.

They went in and Kurt walked Blaine to the couch. He sat down and seemed to be watching the pre-season football game Burt must have left on.

"Kurt, is that you? We weren't expecting you back until tonight," he heard Carol ask from the kitchen. "Is everything okay?"

Kurt headed into the kitchen to find both his parents there. "Blaine's Dad just kicked him out of the house."

"What happened?" Burt asked.

"We went back to his house to get his stuff so he could stay over. He didn't think anyone would be home, but his Dad came back from his business trip, and when he found out I was Blaine's boyfriend, he just lost it and kicked him out."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Dad, but Blaine's not. He just seems kind of out of it. I'm not sure what to do."

Carol glanced out to where Blaine was still watching football. "Poor boy. What kind of parent would kick their own son out? Just be there with him, Kurt. It may take a little while for it to sink in, but when it does, he'll need you."

She walked out to where Blaine sat with Kurt following behind her. "Blaine, Honey, Kurt told us what happened. You can stay here as long as you need to, and you just let Burt or I know if you need anything at all, okay?"

"Thanks, Carol," Blaine said in his usual polite voice. "I really appreciate it."

* * *

><p>They spent the day like it was any other normal day at Kurt's house. Blaine watched football and played video games with Finn. They had lunch and supper with Burt, Carol and Finn. Blaine was acting like his normal self, but Kurt kept giving him concerned glances. After supper, Blaine and Kurt curled-up on the couch together to watch a movie.<p>

"Are you doing okay?" Kurt asked.

"I'm fine, Kurt, really."

"You'd tell me if you wanted to talk about anything, right? Because you know you can tell me anything."

"I promise, if I need to talk, I'll let you know."

Kurt left it there and went back to watching the movie, his head resting on Blaine's shoulder.

Later that night, Carol helped him pull out the sofa-bed and set it up for Blaine, before she headed off to bed herself.

Kurt got changed into pajamas and did his lengthy moisturizing routine. The house was quiet as he crept back downstairs to check on Blaine. The lights were out in the living room and Kurt could hear quiet sobbing. Wordlessly, he crawled into bed beside Blaine and pulled his boyfriend close against his chest. "Baby, it's going to be okay," he soothed.

"What am I going to do, Kurt?" Blaine sobbed.

"You know you can stay here as long as you need to."

"I can't sleep on your couch for a whole year. And what about Dalton? What about my car? I've been paying the insurance and gas, but my parents bought the car initially. Do you think he'll take it away from me? I won't be able to drive to Lima to see you without my car," he cried.

Kurt rubbed his back comfortingly. Then he thought of something. "What about your Mom? Do you think she'll be able to help at all?"

"Yeah, my Mom should be back tomorrow morning. Maybe she'll be able to do something," he said, sounding more optimistic.

"Maybe she'll convince him to change his mind, at least to let you keep going to Dalton. You can always stay here for the rest of the summer."

"Yeah, that wouldn't be so bad," said Blaine. He'd stopped crying completely now, but still wasn't letting go of Kurt. He rested his head on Kurt's chest again. "Thanks for listening."

"No problem. You're always there for me, but you don't always have to be so strong. You can let me look after you sometimes. You know I love you no matter what."

"I love you, too."

Kurt continued holding Blaine tightly, rubbing his back slowly as he fell asleep. He didn't want to risk waking him up by getting up and leaving, so hoping his Dad would understand, he settled back against the pillows and fell asleep.

* * *

><p>They woke-up the next morning to the sound of footsteps on the stairs. Kurt slipped outside the covers, so he might be able to convince his Dad that they hadn't actually slept together, but it was just Carol, heading into the kitchen.<p>

"Did you sleep okay?" asked Kurt.

"Yeah, perfectly. I didn't think I'd be able to sleep at all, but I guess with you beside me, it was okay."

"What time does your Mom get home?"

"First thing this morning. She has to work today, so she said she would be home early."

"Are you going to call her?"

"I don't know. What if he answers?"

"Does she have a cell phone?"

"No, my Dad tried to get her to carry one, but she never turned it on, so I think he gave up and cancelled it."

"So I guess you're waiting to see if she calls you."

After breakfast, Kurt decided that they should go out for a walk. Blaine seemed distracted, constantly checking his phone and Kurt thought it would be good for him to get out of the house for a bit. Burt was staying home that morning catching-up on garage paperwork. If he knew they'd spent the night together, he wasn't saying anything.

They walked through the park and kept on going. Blaine checked his phone - ten o'clock and still no phone calls. He didn't say anything, but he was starting to look more and more worried.

Kurt was getting nervous, too. If Blaine's Mom wasn't calling him, what did that mean? Was she disowning him, too? And then what? What was Blaine supposed to do without either of his parents?

After walking a little longer, they turned around and started heading back home. They were walking back through the park when Blaine's phone rang.

"Hi, Mom," he said. The two of them sat down close together on a nearby bench and Blaine turned up the volume so Kurt could hear as well.

"Are you okay, Blaine," his Mom asked. "Where are you?"

"I'm with Kurt, and I guess I'm okay."

"Kurt is your uh... boyfriend?"

"Yes."

"And, you stayed with him last night?"

"Yes."

"His parents don't mind you being there?"

"No, they don't mind at all. _His_ parents are very supportive of us."

Blaine's Mom continued, ignoring Blaine's last comment. "Your father is very upset. Why did you have Kurt at our house in the first place? You must have known that wouldn't go well."

"We were only there for a minute. I just had to pick-up some of my stuff. I wasn't expecting anyone to be home."

"Well, I guess it's done now. Your father and I had a long discussion this morning. He's agreed to let you move back home and continue going to Dalton, provided you stop seeing Kurt."

"No, Mom!" Blaine exclaimed. "I'm not going to stop seeing him. I love him. He's the best part of my life."

"It took a lot of convincing just to get your father to agree to let you back in the house. He's not going to change his mind about this. It's only one more year and then you'll be able to do whatever you want. Just think about it, Honey. What else are you going to do?"

"I don't know, but I have to be with Kurt."

"Just think about it, please. I don't want to lose you. Call me tonight, okay?"

"Okay, Mom. Bye."

"Bye, Honey."

They had a heated discussion on the way back. Kurt was trying to convince Blaine to at least consider all the options, and Blaine wasn't even willing to think about any option where he couldn't be with Kurt anytime he wanted to.

"Look," Kurt said as they entered his house, "I'm not saying we should actually break-up. I'm just saying, you managed to hide me from them for months. Summer's almost over and you'll be back at Dalton in a few weeks. Can't you just tell them you're not seeing me anymore?"

"Why should I have to hide you? Why can't they just accept who I am?"

"I don't know, Blaine. It's not fair."

"But if I don't go home, then what do I do?"

"You could just stay here and go to McKinley with me."

"Your parents are so nice to let me stay for a few days, but I couldn't do that for a whole year. Your Dad would get sick of me pretty fast if he couldn't watch any late night TV because I was always asleep on the couch." He sighed. "I don't know what to do."

"Are you going to be okay alone here while I go to work? My Dad must have gone to work, and I'm not sure where Finn is."

"Yeah, I'll be fine. It'll give me some time to think about everything."

When Kurt got home, Carol was already making supper and Blaine was helping her. Kurt could hear him telling her about the conversation with his mother and he left them to it. Maybe Carol would have some good advice. He went up to his room until supper and went over some notes he had made that day about the musical.

Blaine was kind of quiet at supper and afterwards, he and Kurt went out to the back deck where he told Kurt what he'd decided. "I have to go home," he said. "I talked to my Mom just before supper and told her I'd be home tonight. Like you said, it's only a few weeks until I'm back at school and we can still talk on the phone and maybe you can even visit me at work."

Blaine gathered up his stuff and Kurt walked him to his car. They put their arms around each other and held each other for a long time. "I love you and nothing will ever change that," Blaine said. He kissed Kurt passionately, like it really was the last time he would ever see him. Then he got in his car and was gone.


	9. The Musical

When Blaine arrived home, his parents were both sitting at the kitchen table. "Blaine, come in here," his father said in a forced pleasant voice. He sat down at the table with them. "Your mother tells me you've decided to come home." Blaine nodded. "Then let's go over exactly what that means. If you are going to live here, it means that you will not see or speak to that boy at all. I will be checking your phone to ensure that you don't. When you're not at work, you will let us know where you're going and once you're back at school, you will come home every weekend. Provided you stick to these rules, we will continue to pay your tuition at Dalton and you will be welcome in this house. You know this year is extremely important for your future," he continued. "You'll need references for college applications and you may have college interviews to go to. You wouldn't want to make the wrong impression and jeopardize your chance for a successful future."

Blaine nodded silently, seething internally. He almost preferred the raging version of his father to this manipulative one.

"Anything to add, Sharon?" his father asked.

"No, I don't think so," she said quietly.

Blaine headed up to his room and immediately sent an email to Kurt. _Don't phone me or text me. He's checking my phone. Miss you already, B._

* * *

><p>The rest of the week wasn't too bad. Blaine was at work all the time anyway, and he was fairly certain his father wouldn't manage to break into his email, so he and Kurt were still emailing regularly. Then Monday morning came, his only day off, and all he could think of was that he should be with Kurt. He would have risked sneaking off to Lima, but his father knew his work schedule and Blaine thought he might check-up on him today. He did risk a Skype session, however, and it was great to see Kurt and hear his voice. He couldn't believe how much he'd missed him in a week. Sure enough, around 11:00, Blaine heard the door open downstairs. "Got to go - someone's downstairs," he said and quickly shut down Skype. Overall, even though he was miserable this morning, he was still optimistic. It was only two more weeks before he'd be back at Dalton and then his parents would have a much harder time keeping track of him. Even if he did have to come home on weekends, he'd be able to sneak off to Lima on weekdays after school.<p>

Kurt was definitely missing Blaine, too. He was even starting to miss Six Flags, but like Blaine, he was hopeful that things would be better in two weeks. For now, the musical was occupying most of his time. This was their last week to practice, with the big show on Friday.

* * *

><p>Thursday night, Kurt was feeling pretty optimistic. The kids knew their parts. The orchestra's playing had improved dramatically. They were now all managing to play the same song at the same time. Kurt had doubts initially about pulling off an original musical with all the actors under twelve years of age, but it had all come together eventually, with a few modifications to his original script. Tomorrow morning was their dress rehearsal, then the performance in the afternoon. His family, Rachel and Mercedes were all coming, in addition to the kids' parents, the camp director and all the other camp counsellors. He really wished Blaine could be there too, but Finn had promised to video it for him to watch whenever they saw each other. Kurt just had a few things to finish off on one costume. Most of the kids had been responsible for their own costumes, but this one, Kurt wouldn't trust to anyone else. "Pip Pip Hooray" couldn't go on without a realistic Prince Harry and Kurt had recreated the extensively-decorated navy jacket that the prince had worn for his brother's wedding. At last, it was done. He had crossed everything off his to-do list and he was ready for tomorrow. As he climbed into bed, he glanced at his silent cell phone, wishing he could share his excitement with Blaine. Email just wasn't the same as actually talking to him.<p>

* * *

><p>Kurt was back in his room the next afternoon by 4:30, curled-up on his bed, absolutely mortified. Nothing had gone as expected. He thought back over the day's events.<p>

It had started first thing in the morning as the kids arrived in their costumes. The girls had been instructed to wear their fanciest dresses and the boys, their best suits. Kurt had looked after any accessories they might need, like appropriate hats for the Queen and Pippa. He was looking forward to seeing his "Pippa." She certainly looked the part – tall for her age, and with long, straight, light brown hair. She'd said her mother was very excited that her daughter was starring in the musical and had been working on her outfit for weeks.

When she walked in, Kurt just about fell out of his director's chair. Her once-brown hair was now dyed a hideous shade of bright orange and was braided into two braids with wires stuck in them so they stood out sideways from her head. She bounded-in excitedly in a denim dress and mismatched striped stockings and said "What do you think? My Mom said she played Pippa in a play when she was a kid, so she knew exactly how she looked."

"Very nice," said Kurt in a strained voice.

And that was just the beginning. The rest of the costumes were also interesting. Some of the kids could certainly pass for an attempt at looking like royalty, but others were unbelievably far from it. Kurt should have known better than to tell his "Prince Philip," to wear his best suit. He should have remembered that the kid's parents owned Lima's biggest western wear store. And so, the Queen's aged and supposedly distinguished husband, was attired in black Wranglers, cowboy boots, a black and white western shirt and bolo tie, and of course, an extra large belt buckle. The "Queen" wasn't much better. She was wearing her fanciest dress, and it certainly was fancy... and short. Who buys a black sequined dress for an eleven-year-old, Kurt wondered? It looked even worse with the flower-covered yellow hat Kurt had made for her.

Things only got worse during the actual performance. After all of their hard work, the audience just kept laughing at everything. At the end of the first act, there was a scene at a royal ball that had Burt laughing so hard, he turned bright red and Kurt was afraid he would have another heart attack. What choice did Kurt have? He'd wanted to do the scene with a romantic waltz, but the kids had flat-out refused to do any dancing that involved touching any member of the opposite sex, and the only dance they could all seem to remember was the Bird Dance.

In a serious scene where Prince Harry asked Pippa's father for permission to marry his daughter, little Cody, who played the father, kept talking about sewers instead of suitors. It had been weeks since he'd made that mistake in practice, but it apparently came back again when he was nervous. He had the audience laughing so hard, two people in the front row actually fell out of their seats.

In the final scene, as Pippa walked up the aisle in her orange braids and wedding veil to meet her betrothed, singing "Some Day My Prince Will Come," from Snow White, the contrast between the demure expression she'd been practicing so hard, and her Pippi Longstocking appearance, was just too much for the camp director. He had a coughing fit and had to leave the room.

Afterwards, nearly all of the parents came up to Kurt to tell him how much they'd enjoyed the show. The camp director said it was by far the most entertaining musical they'd ever had and offered him the job again next year.

Finn said "That was awesome, Dude. I thought it would be so boring, I would fall asleep, but that was hilarious."

Rachel said "I never knew you were such a talented satirist."

His Dad and Carol just congratulated him and left him to the rest of the parents who still wanted to speak to him.

* * *

><p>Back in his room, he gave in to the tears that had been threatening to fall all day. He'd loved his musical. It was meant to be a serious and beautiful tale, a royal romance. There wasn't supposed to be anything funny about it, but no one seemed to understand that. He needed Blaine, needed him to listen to all of his worries and hold him close until it didn't hurt anymore. He grabbed his keys quickly, headed out the door and started driving towards Six Flags.<p>

He glanced at his watch as he walked towards the gates. Blaine should have thirty minutes until his next show. Luckily the ticket people all knew him and he never had to pay admission. It didn't take long to spot Blaine. He was sitting at one of the tables at the restaurant he'd taken Kurt to the first time he'd been there. Kurt started walking towards him, then stopped dead. Blaine wasn't alone. His Dad was sitting next to him, and that must be his Mom as well. Luckily Blaine's parents were facing away from him. On Blaine's other side was a pretty blond girl who looked about their age, as well as an older couple who were likely her parents. Blaine was smiling politely at something the girl's father was saying, but Kurt could tell even at a distance, that it wasn't his true smile. Then Blaine looked-up and saw Kurt. Their eyes locked and Kurt could see the misery in his boyfriend's expression. The adults didn't seem to have noticed, but the girl did. She was looking from Blaine to Kurt trying to figure out what was going on. Kurt turned quickly and walked away, not wanting to get Blaine in any trouble. He made it out of the park and back into his car before he started crying again.

Blaine was really distressed now. He could tell that Kurt had been crying and it was killing him to not be able to go running after his boyfriend. Yet, he was stuck here, with his parents and their friends, talking about the merits of the various Ivy league colleges, while they all made not so subtle hints about all the things he and this girl, Jessica, had in common. Luckily she'd noticed something was going on and came to Blaine's rescue.

"I'd really like to see more of the park before the show starts. Would it be alright if Blaine and I went for a walk so he could show me around?" she asked." Fortunately, their parents were only too happy for them to go off alone together.

"Who was that?" Jessica wanted to know as they walked away.

"My boyfriend, Kurt. My parents don't approve and won't let me see him anymore. Sorry, I assume that they forgot to mention I was gay."

"Well that explains why you weren't acting very interested. Don't worry, I'm not upset. I have a boyfriend, too, and my parents don't like him any better than your parents like yours. Just because his parents moved here from El Salvador and don't have any money, they don't think he's good enough for me. They don't care that he's super smart, gets straight A's, and will get a scholarship to whatever college he wants to go to. They're always trying to set me up with guys they think are more suitable."

Once they were out of their parents' sight, Blaine broke into a run with Jessica following. He was afraid Kurt would have left already, and he was relieved to see the Navigator still there in the parking lot. He pulled open the driver's door. Kurt looked –up, surprised. Then realizing who it was, threw himself into Blaine's arms. They held each other tightly, softly whispering how much they'd missed each other, pressed so closely together that only they could hear each other.

After a few minutes, Blaine pulled back and, remembering Jessica was there, said "Sorry, Jessica, this is my boyfriend, Kurt. Kurt this is Jessica. Our parents seem to be trying to set us up."

"That's awful. How could they do that to you?"

"I guess with our new deal, they can do whatever they want. I have to pretend to be the perfect son, or they kick me out again. So, are you okay? You look upset, and it was your big performance today. Did everything go alright?"

"I was going to come here and complain to you about how they all laughed at everything. All the dramatic scenes I'd written, they thought were absolutely hilarious. But you know what? It doesn't seem important anymore. So what if my Dad and Carol laughed at my musical? At least they were there supporting me, not like your parents. Besides, if we only have a few minutes together, I don't want to spend them crying on your shoulder."

A few minutes was nowhere near enough time to catch-up on everything they'd missed over the last few weeks, but it was better than nothing. Blaine felt bad for ignoring Jessica after she'd rescued him, but she seemed to understand. She went off to look at the map at the front gate so they could say goodbye alone.

Blaine kept kissing Kurt, starting to walk away and turning back to kiss him one more time. After several repeats of this, Kurt locked his arms tightly around him and said "I don't want you to go either, but you've got to get ready for your show and since you are the star, your parents will probably notice if you're not there. Remember, I'll see you the first Monday, right after school. I love you."

"I love you more," Blaine replied, then tore himself away and went to find Jessica.


	10. In My Room

Blaine could hardly wait for the first day of school. The only thing that kept him going when he couldn't see Kurt, was knowing that he'd soon be back at Dalton and then everything would be okay again. He'd thought that maybe he and Jessica could work something out where they would pretend to see each other, while really seeing their respective boyfriends. Unfortunately, before they could organize their "first date," Jessica's parents had caught her in bed with her boyfriend, and she was grounded indefinitely.

The Sunday night before school started, Blaine was happily unpacking in his dorm room. He was getting a new roommate this year, since his previous roommate had graduated the year before. He was pleasantly surprised to find out it was Eric, whom he'd met occasionally at some of his father's work functions. He couldn't remember exactly what Eric's parents did, but he was pretty sure his Mom worked in the same building as Blaine's Dad. Blaine had been afraid he'd be rooming with a new freshman, so he was happy to be paired with the senior who'd transferred from another school. He and Eric had nearly identical class schedules and Eric said he was also interested in joining the Warblers, so Blaine was hoping they would get along well. Really, though, Blaine could get along with just about anyone, so he wasn't too worried.

He could hardly wait to get his computer set-up so he could Skype with Kurt. Then tomorrow afternoon, they would finally see each other in person again. After all, it was hard to have any kind of really personal conversation over the internet, with your new roommate in the room.

The next day seemed to go on forever, even though it was only the first day. Most of the students were enjoying catching-up with their friends and talking about their summers, but Blaine had only one thought on his mind – he would be seeing his boyfriend later that day. His last class was finally over and he was on his way to the first Warbler meeting of the year, luckily a short one. Today, they just had to vote on the new council for this year, and then he would finally be free to see Kurt.

To his surprise, his phone rang with his father's work number showing-up on the call display. "Hi, Dad," he said.

His Dad sounded furious, "So, you're planning on seeing that boy today, are you? You think that just because you're back at school, the rules don't apply? Well let me tell you this, Blaine, if you see or speak to that boy one more time, you'll be out of that school and onto the street so fast you won't know what hit you." He hung-up without giving Blaine any time to respond.

Blaine made it to the Warbler practice early and frantically asked Nick if he could use his phone. Nick looked confused (Blaine hadn't had a chance to explain his situation to any of them), but handed it over anyway. "Kurt, it's me. He knows I was planning to meet you today. He threatened to kick me out again if I see you."

"How could he know, Blaine?"

Blaine glanced-up to see Eric arrive, wave brightly at him, and sit down nearby. "I have to go," he said hurriedly. "I won't be able to make it today. I'm so sorry."

As he went back to his room after the meeting, he hardly registered the fact that he, Nick and Jeff were now the new Warbler Council. He was trying to figure-out how his father had found out. It had to be Eric. He hadn't had a chance to tell any of his friends what was going on, so none of them would have known he was planning to go to Lima today. He asked Eric if he'd spoken to his parents about him, but Eric was adamant that other than telling his parents that Blaine was his new roommate, he hadn't said anything else.

As the week went on, though, it seemed like Eric was everywhere. He was in almost all of Blaine's classes. He always seemed to walk with him to Warbler practices. He never seemed to leave their dorm room unless Blaine was going somewhere, too. Blaine had to resort to sneaking off to the library at lunch to email Kurt and it wasn't long before Eric seemed to discover this and was spending his lunches in the library as well. His request to change roommates had been met with a firm "No" from the dorm supervisor, especially since he couldn't give any better reason than "I think my roommate is spying on me."

Things certainly didn't improve when he had to go home that weekend. His Dad was suspicious every time Blaine wanted to leave the house. Even his Mom insisted on driving him when he wanted to go over to Nick's house to discuss their plans for the Warblers. He was pretty sure she wasn't trying to make his life miserable on purpose, but she seemed afraid he would get himself kicked-out again and was trying to make sure he wasn't sneaking off to see Kurt.

* * *

><p>As the first half of September passed, Blaine was hardly recognizable as the Warbler's star performer and the straight-A student he had been last year. He gave-up any of the upbeat solos, insisting that others could do a better job. Instead, he now seemed to prefer slow, depressing songs about being alone. His grades started to drop. He found it difficult to concentrate in class and tended to fall asleep in the evenings, when he should have been doing homework. His emails to Kurt had gotten shorter and shorter, partly because Eric kept hanging around him, but partly because he found he had nothing to say.<p>

He was at home for the weekend now. It was Saturday morning and he had a large pile of neglected homework sitting on his desk, but he just couldn't get motivated to start it. He was too tired. Maybe if he had a nap he would feel better and would get something done this afternoon. He crawled back under the covers. Luckily, he hadn't bothered to change out of his pajamas. He fell asleep immediately, even though it was only 11:00 am.

A little while later, his mother, not having gotten any response when she called him for lunch, came upstairs with a sandwich for him. Finding him asleep, she left the plate on his desk, and went worriedly back downstairs.

Blaine woke-up after a few hours, when his phone started ringing. He saw that it was Jeff calling and decided to ignore it. He didn't have the energy to deal with any Warbler emergencies right now. He was just starting to fall asleep again, when his mother knocked on the door. "Come in," he said.

"Honey, Jeff is on the phone for you," she said, holding the cordless phone. "There's apparently an emergency Warbler meeting that they need you to go back for."

"Thanks, Mom," he said, taking the phone from her.

He tried to talk Jeff out of having a meeting, tried to insist that whatever it was could wait until Monday, but Jeff was adamant that they needed to meet today and that Blaine needed to be present. Nick couldn't come back to school until after supper with his family, so Blaine eventually agreed to meet in Nick and Jeff's room at 8:00 that night.

He was fully awake now, but still not motivated enough to do homework. He put a DVD in his laptop and mindlessly watched the movie instead.

* * *

><p>Jeff had called Kurt that afternoon as well. The first thing Kurt said was "How's Blaine? I'm so worried about him. He hardly even answers my emails anymore."<p>

Jeff had replied, "He's a total mess. Half the Warblers are threatening to quit if he makes them sing "In my room" one more time. Nick and I are trying to keep things together, but it's not going well. If things keep going like this, we won't have enough members to even compete at Sectionals. Can you come out to Dalton tonight and help us figure out what to do about Blaine? You can stay with Nick and I tonight so you won't have to drive back late."

"I'll have to check with my Dad. What time?"

"Be there at 7:30 tonight. Just call me when you arrive and I'll come let you in."

"Okay, if my Dad objects, I'll call you back and let you know. Otherwise, I'll see you then."

Burt didn't have any objections to Kurt spending the night with Nick and Jeff. He knew Kurt was really worried about Blaine and maybe talking to Blaine's friends would help. He also thought it would be good for Kurt to get out of the house. He'd been staying home a lot since he couldn't see Blaine, and it was starting to remind Burt of how Kurt had turned into a bit of a recluse when Karofsky was bullying him.

* * *

><p>Back at Dalton, Jeff said to Nick "I hope this works."<p>

"Me, too," Nick agreed, "because I don't want to have to be the one to kick Blaine Anderson off the council if it doesn't."


	11. Courage

Reluctantly, Blaine got ready to go to the meeting with Nick and Jeff. He was afraid it would be a long one, so he brought all his stuff to stay overnight assuming he would be too tired to drive home. After all, he was almost too tired to drive there and it was only 7:15. He said goodbye to his Mom and left.

His Dad had been at work late, especially for a Saturday, but returned just after Blaine had left.

"We need to talk about Blaine," Sharon said as Stephen came in the house.

"What has he done now?"

"He hasn't done anything. I'm just worried about him."

"Where is he? His car's gone."

"At Dalton, for an emergency Warbler meeting."

"Are you sure that's where he really is? He probably just made that up. It wouldn't be the first time he tried to sneak off to see _that_ boy. I should call Eric."

"Who?"

"Eric, you know, Roberta's son. He's Blaine's roommate at Dalton."

"You're having Blaine's roommate spy on him for you? I don't like this at all, Stephen."

"What choice do we have, when the boy's obviously being deceitful?"

"He's not being deceitful. Jeff called here since Blaine wasn't answering his phone and I talked to him myself. They have a very important meeting tonight. Plus, Blaine was asleep most of the day and I really don't think he was plotting anything. I'm really worried about him. In the last week, four of his teachers have called me. They're all saying he's falling asleep in class and not doing any of his homework. He's already failed several quizzes. Then his dorm supervisor called as well. He's worried because Blaine hasn't been showing-up for many meals, and when he does, he hardly eats anything. Mr. Phillips was actually concerned that he might have an eating disorder."

"I'm sure he doesn't have an eating disorder. He's probably just sick. If he's sleeping all the time, he probably has mono. I don't even want to think about where he got it, but why don't you just take him to the doctor, then?"

"I don't think he's sick; I think he's depressed."

"Why would he be depressed?"

"Probably because he can't see Kurt. Why are we even doing this? I know you want him to act like the perfect son, especially in front of your friends and coworkers, but I can tell you, the perfect son doesn't fail his senior year of high school, or sleep all day, or have an eating disorder. Even today, he didn't touch his lunch and he hardly ate any of his favourite lasagna at supper. If we don't change something, we're going to lose him. If he even makes it through this year, he'll be out that door the day he graduates and we'll never see him again."

* * *

><p>Kurt arrived on time, as always. Jeff went to meet him. They'd gotten permission from Mr. Phillips for Kurt to stay overnight, so there were no problems. Back in Nick and Jeff's room, Kurt asked "So, what's been happening with Blaine? I barely get two word replies to my emails."<p>

"He's a total disaster without you," Nick said.

Jeff added, "All the songs he picks for us to sing are slow and depressing. He's even started singing old school country music. Let me tell you, Willie Nelson's _Blue Eyes Crying in the_ _Rain_ was not meant to be done in eight part harmony."

"He keeps falling asleep in class and I'm sure his grades have dropped," Nick said, "But, we have a plan."

"What's that?" asked Kurt.

"Well, Blaine is scheduled to arrive for an emergency Warbler meeting in about twenty minutes. I talked to his Mom myself, so she shouldn't be suspicious. And that's where you come in. Nick and I are heading to my house for the night, and you have until tomorrow morning to get us our lead singer back."

"If anyone can fix Blaine, it's you. I've never seen him happier than when you and he finally got together last year."

The two of them grabbed their stuff and left, leaving Kurt alone in their room. He was happy he'd still taken the time to dress nicely and do his hair. He'd just about come over in the sweatpants he'd been wearing, but luckily, he'd switched to the skinny jeans and a nice shirt.

Just before 8:00, there was a knock at the door. Kurt opened it and there was Blaine. Kurt didn't even get a chance to take-in his appearance before Blaine gasped "Kurt," and launched himself into his arms.

"I missed you so much," Kurt whispered, softly rubbing Blaine's back, as Blaine clung to him as tightly as he could, his face buried in Kurt's shoulder.

Blaine didn't answer, he just held on like he was drowning and Kurt was the only thing that could save him.

Eventually, he pulled himself together enough to pull his head off of Kurt's shoulder and look at him. "What are you doing here?" he asked, hardly believing that his boyfriend was really there.

It took Kurt a second to answer. He was busy gazing worriedly at Blaine's appearance. There was certainly nothing dapper about the guy standing in front of him. His hair was a mess of old gel that hadn't been washed out. There was enough stubble on his face to indicate that he hadn't shaved for at least several days and he was wearing ancient-looking navy sweatpants and an orange T-shirt with a big stain on the front. "Nick and Jeff invited me to stay over. They neglected to mention that they weren't staying with me, or that they'd managed to get you back here for some fake Warbler meeting."

"So, where are they then, if there's no Warbler meeting?"

"They went to Jeff's house for the night."

"You mean you and I are all alone here, all night?"

Kurt nodded.

Blaine suddenly looked down self-consciously, remembering how he was dressed, and how long it had been since he had last showered. "Um, I hate to do this, but I really need to go get changed. Are you okay on your own for a few minutes?"

"I'll be fine, Blaine. Go do whatever you need to do."

"Promise you won't go anywhere and you'll be right here when I get back and you'll be here all night."

"I promise. I'll be right here waiting for you."

Blaine showered, shaved and got changed in record time. He brushed his teeth and ran a comb through his damp curls. Luckily, Erik wasn't there to ask any questions. Maybe he actually had some sort of a life when he wasn't stalking Blaine.

Blaine hurried back to Nick and Jeff's room and opened the door to find Kurt lying on his stomach on Jeff's bed, playing with his phone. He got up as soon as he saw Blaine, though, and walked over to him as Blaine locked the door.

"I feel human again," Blaine said, reaching an arm behind Kurt's waist, pulling him in forcefully and pressing his lips to Kurt's.

As Kurt's mouth opened in a gasp, Blaine slipped his tongue inside. The kiss went on and on. Kurt had never felt this kind of desperation from his boyfriend before. He met Blaine's tongue with his own, trying to keep-up with the frantic pace Blaine was setting.

Eventually, Kurt pulled back. Blaine looked like he was going to attack his mouth again. "One second," Kurt said quickly, taking Blaine's hand and backing-up towards Jeff's bed.

Blaine seemed to like that idea, and pushed Kurt backwards onto the bed, climbing on top of him. He sought Kurt's lips again, then moved to his neck, his jaw, his shoulder. "Kurt, I missed you so much. I'm so lost without you." He started undoing the buttons on Kurt's shirt, kissing slowly down his chest as his shirt gradually fell open. Blaine glanced up to see Kurt's head tipped back on the pillow, his eyes half-closed. Still watching Kurt's face, he cautiously ran his tongue over one of his nipples. Kurt moaned and tipped his head back even farther. Getting braver, Blaine tried the other nipple, getting the same response, then started kissing lower and lower down Kurt's abs until he reached the waistband of his jeans.

"Can I touch you? Please let me touch you. Please, Kurt, I need you so badly." Kurt nodded his permission. Blaine immediately started to undo Kurt's jeans, managing to remove them surprisingly quickly considering how tight they were. The sight of his boyfriend lying there in nothing but black boxer briefs seemed to shock Blaine out of the desperate pace he had set and he paused to look at him properly. "You're beautiful," he whispered "and I love you so much."

"I love you, too."

"You're sure you're okay with this? Maybe I was getting kind of carried away."

"I'm sure. I love you and I trust you, and I want this, too."

They kissed again, Kurt's lack of clothes making it feel even more intense for both of them. Blaine then pulled back to run his fingers slowly down Kurt's chest. This time his hand kept going lower, running lightly over Kurt's underwear and feeling him respond under his hand. The "Bla...aine," he heard his boyfriend moan was all the encouragement he needed and was suddenly touching him more firmly through his underwear, then easing those down too.

"How could I have ever said you weren't sexy. Kurt Hummel, you are the sexiest man alive. You are absolutely gorgeous." He kept touching, exploring, stroking, all the while enjoying the less and less coherent noises Kurt was making.

"Wait, Blaine."

Blaine pulled away suddenly surprised by Kurt's sudden change in tone. Was he that bad at this? Was it more than Kurt was ready for?

Seeing his panicked expression, Kurt was quick to say "No, Blaine, it's good. It's just... I just want to touch you, too. Is that okay?"

"Sure, that's okay," he replied, hardly daring to believe it was really happening, as Kurt eased the shirt over his head, mimicking Blaine's earlier movements, kissing his chest, his nipples, his abs, pausing to undo Blaine's jeans, and remove them.

Here he was Kurt "Baby Penguin" Hummel, about to touch his boyfriend for the first time, about to be naked with his boyfriend for the first time. He would have thought he'd be more scared, and he was a bit nervous, but mostly excited, and aroused he really wanted to see what Blaine looked like without his clothes on. He reached for the waistband of Blaine's boxer briefs and pulled them off. "You're so gorgeous, you take my breath away," he whispered, reaching his hand tentatively over to take hold of Blaine's erection and start stroking him. "Is this okay?" he asked.

"Feels so good, Kurt," Blaine managed to reply between gasps. As he felt himself getting closer, he turned on his side and reached for Kurt again. They kept going, their movements becoming faster and more erratic as they came finally, one after the other.

Lying in each other's arms afterwards, they cleaned-up as best as they could with the Kleenex they'd found on Jeff's bedside table.

"I think I'll be doing Jeff's laundry for him tomorrow," Blaine said.

"Well, I think that's a small price to pay for a night alone together."

"Definitely," Blaine agreed, cuddling even closer against Kurt's back and holding him close. "Now, tell me everything that's been happening with you. I've missed talking to you so much."

They managed to catch-up on everything they had missed over the past few weeks, finally falling asleep well after midnight.

* * *

><p>Blaine woke-up early on Sunday, feeling better-rested than he had for a long time. He looked down at his beautiful boyfriend asleep in his arms, and knew what he had to do.<p>

Kurt had promised his Dad and Carol that he would be home for a family breakfast, not knowing that he might have a reason to stay at Dalton longer, so with a final kiss for Blaine, he headed home.

Blaine put clean sheets on Jeff's bed, gathered-up the rest of his stuff and headed back to his own room, loudly closing the door behind him when he found Eric still asleep.

"What are you doing back so early?" he asked. "I thought you were home for the weekend."

"I came back last night. Nick and Jeff invited Kurt over and he and I spent the night together."

"You can't do that," gasped Eric. "Your parents will kick you out."

"How do you know that?"

"Just, just from overhearing your conversations with them," he stuttered.

"Tell me the truth," Blaine said, loudly. Blaine normally never raised his voice or yelled at anybody.

Eric stayed silent.

"Did my Dad put you up to this? Is he making you follow me and tell him everything I'm doing?"

"It wasn't supposed to be like that," Eric said quietly. "He came to me last summer and said he was really worried about his son and was looking for someone to help look out for him. I thought you must have a drug problem or something. I never knew you were gay, or that he was trying to keep you away from your boyfriend. Anyway, he said he would be willing to pay my tuition at Dalton if I helped him out. My family could never afford the tuition here, and after making a total fool of myself over a girl last year, I was thrilled to be able to change schools. Then I get here, and your Dad doesn't just want to know where you go after school, he wants to know everyone you're talking to, and what you're doing every second of the day and when I tried to tell him that you seemed to be a good guy and weren't into drugs or anything, he blew up at me about how you needed to be associating with the right people, and making the right impression, and he reminded me how much he was paying for my tuition, and how I'd better be doing my job, or I'd be sorry. And you know what? Before I got here, I was looking forward to being your roommate. When we'd met before it seemed like we had a lot in common and I'd heard great things about the Warblers. Now I suppose there's no chance we'll ever be friends."

"I can't see it ever happening," Blaine replied coldly. "Do you have any idea what I've been through these last few weeks?" He grabbed his bag and started packing some of his things. "Anyway, it's all over. I'm heading home to tell my Dad that he might as well kick me out, because I'm going to keep seeing Kurt, so you may want to start packing, too, because I can't see him continuing to pay your tuition for nothing."

* * *

><p>Blaine left for home right away, hoping to catch his Dad at home. He was there, drinking coffee in the kitchen when Blaine arrived. Blaine had a confidence his Dad had never seen before, a confidence he'd only seen a glimpse of the day he'd been introduced to Kurt.<p>

"Dad, there's something I need to tell you. I need to be with Kurt. I am going to see him whenever I want to and talk to him on the phone as much as I want to. And if that means I have to live on the street and go to public school, then that's what I'll do, because I am not going on the way things have been. If I can't be with Kurt, I don't even have a reason to keep going. And I don't care what you think, or what your friends think. I know who I am, and I know who I love, and you're not going to keep him away from him anymore."

"Fine," his Dad said.

"I'll go get my stuff and be going, then."

"No, Blaine," his Dad said unemotionally. "I mean, it's fine. See Kurt, go to Dalton, come home on weekends if you want to. Do want you want to do. It's fine. I'm going to work." And with that, he got up and left.

Blaine was left there, staring after him, not sure if he'd heard right. He looked back and saw his Mom standing in the doorway to the living room with tears in her eyes.

"Did he mean..?" Blaine asked, dumbfounded.

"I think he meant that he may not like it, but he won't try to stop you from seeing Kurt anymore. I've been so worried about you, Honey. I just want to see you happy again."

He hugged her and she said, "What are you waiting for? Don't you want to see Kurt right away?"

"Thanks, Mom," he said and headed back out to his car at a run. He couldn't wait to tell Kurt. He drove to Lima, probably faster than he should have. Kurt's car was in the driveway. He ran up to the door and knocked.

Finn answered "Hey, Dude. What are you doing here?"

Blaine put his finger to his lips to silence him, then quietly entered the house, looking to see where Kurt was.

"Who was it, Honey?" Carol asked from the kitchen. "Blaine!" she exclaimed, looking-up from the dishes.

With that, Kurt dropped the cutlery he'd been drying with a crash into the open drawer and spun around. It really was Blaine standing there. He went up and hugged him tightly. "What are you doing here?"

"I told my Dad that I was going to see you, no matter what, even if he kicked me out."

"So, he kicked you out?"

"No, he said it was fine."

"What? How did you get him to change his mind?"

"I just stood up to him and said I would rather live on the street and go to public school if it meant I could see you, and that it wasn't even worth going on if I didn't have you in my life."

Kurt held him tighter for a few seconds.

"I still don't think he loves the idea, but he agreed to it. I think my Mom might have had something to do with it. She said she'd been really worried about me recently."

"Well, it sounds to me like you have more courage than you give yourself credit for, Blaine Anderson."

"Allright, I'll admit that maybe I do have more courage than I thought I did, but you, Kurt Hummel, must admit that you are not the baby penguin you thought you were."

With a giggle at the strange looks Carol and Finn were both giving them, Kurt whispered "No, I guess I've come a long way from looking like I have gas pains." And he kissed his boyfriend happily, longer and deeper than he would have ever dared to do in the middle of the kitchen with his family watching.


End file.
